Is your heart running empty?

Hello Sweet Friends,
I was finishing up our Sweetea Club Newsletter today on "A Heart for the Arts," and the message to these precious girls is one we should all embrace.

The Word says in Proverbs 23:4

Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.

Part of our lesson this month is to teach our girls to be protective of what they allow into their hearts, as should we. Our hearts are certainly like little gardens, and all that comes in will be planted like little seeds, and will, in time, bring forth a harvest. The Word also says, "Out of the mouth the heart speaks." (Matthew 15: 18) So the little things that seem to be insignificant still plant seeds both of life and death. Be careful! The people that we let our hearts get "attached" to plant seeds also. Be careful! We must guard our hearts! As we probably have all heard in the South, "Garbage in, Garbage out!" It is a little slang, but Biblically true. While we take great care of what we allow in, we must also be proactive in filling our hearts and the hearts of our girls and other women in our lives with seeds of truth. Seeds of love. Seeds of kindness and compassion. Seeds of hope. Seeds of faith. Always planting seeds that will bring forth a harvest of life!

However, what I want you most to get here is something that I love. There are things that we all do that bring joy to our hearts, that make us feel good all over, and light up our faces with a good pride -not simply pride. They bring joy ultimately. It may be gardening or running or dancing or music or piano. It may be painting or reading or bird watching. It is the thing we would rather be doing, but feel that we don't have time or perhaps it is to trivial to waste time on. However, God says that our hearts are our wellspring of life. And He came to give us life in the full (John 10:10). We should nurture our hearts, not as a rare "treat," but constantly out of necessity. We just can't afford to let the state of our heart fall to poverty. It is our lifeline! It is how He speaks. It is where His love is (Romans 5:5). The heart is just as vital to our spiritual survival, as it is to our physical survival.

I even found today in researching this topic that the University of Madison Wisconsin tested this same theory of joy on the state of our emotional and physical condition. The research agreed with Socrates, the ancient philosophers words, "Do what you love," and "To thine own self be true." The results showed that people engaging in what brought joy slept better, weighed less, had less stress hormones present, and less heart disease markers present. So if you need an excuse to engage in what you love, now you have one.

I have no idea who said this, and I do not claim it except for that I simply love it:)......

It is said that we lose ourselves in things we love
and find ourselves there too!

Sweet friends, tomorrow we enter the month most associated with love. I pray that this month is the revelation of the love of a most perfect Father to your thirsty heart, and a learning to love your life as His canvas.